The Big Rig has come home!
For the past 72 hours, negotiations between the St. Louis Blues and free agent winger Pat Maroon reached the fever-pitch level of a Game of Thrones season finale. Would he come home or take a better salary elsewhere? Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic and Lou Korac of NHL.com reported that the two sides were close, but in the game of sports and free agents, the nail on the hammer is the ink on the pen hitting a contract.
This afternoon, the mystery died. Pat Maroon, Oakville alum and St. Louis native, was a St. Louis Blue on a one year, $1.75 million contract. Here are five reasons why this particular puts the Blues over the top as the 2018-19 season nears close.
5) Maroon gave the Blues a hometown discount
With around five million dollars left above the salary cap, Doug Armstrong worked his magician ways and acquired Maroon without putting the team payroll in troublesome flux. Maroon made $1.6 million last year, but was a $2 million cap hit. Word on the street had the big fella making at least $3 million with other teams, offers that were still out there as recent as this past weekend. Instead, Maroon comes home to St. Louis on the cheap. Back surgery over the offseason will force the winger to earn the long-term deal that was coveted this summer, but didn't exist due to his state of health.
Translation: Maroon will be looking to prove his worth this season for the Blues.
4) Maroon's arrival allows Blues to ease the future core into roles
When Armstrong acquired Ryan O'Reilly, he thankfully sent out Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka, two players who helped out at center and on wing. He managed to hold onto young guns like Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas and Klim Kostin. Maroon's arrival doesn't shove those kids to the side, but merely allows them to slowly mature into a role on the Blues. You don't have to throw Thomas onto the third line or ask him to make an immediate dent. These kids are young and need time to develop, and Maroon should allow that. Remember, it's a one year deal for the time being.
3) Maroon gives the Blues a physicality that they lacked in 2017-18
Maroon doesn't just score goals and set himself up for an Imo's commercial; he gives the Blues some much-needed blunt force assistance in front of the net and around the ice. When Ryan Reaves was traded to Pittsburgh last summer, the Blues suddenly got very fast and thin on the attack. They didn't have a bruiser out there to hurt other teams, especially ones who took a shot at Vladimir Tarasenko or Jaden Schwartz. That's a different setup now. Maroon has averaged 165 hits per season the past three years. He will move people around, and if the Blues and Mike Yeo were smart, they would place Maroon in front of the net and let him clean up rebounds and wreck havoc on opposing defensemen.
2) The big guy can score goals
Maroon scored 27 goals two years ago for the Edmonton Oilers, and added 17 last year between Edmonton and New Jersey. He has soft hands for a big guy and can fire a shot from the wing or attack a rebound and push it past a goaltender. He isn't dead weight out there, and shouldn't have to exist on the top line in order to make a dent. As I wrote for St. Louis Game Time last month, he doesn't have to be the hero to make an impact in St. Louis. He simply makes the Blues deeper and can add to their scoring attack. The team lacked a big body in front of the net, and Maroon plugs that gap just fine. People will say he can't exist without big stars like Connor McDavid, but he did well with New Jersey after the trade and doesn't need Tarasenko to give the Blues 15 goals. Maroon can play on the Blues third line, but help the second or first line when needed.
1) The hometown kid storyline will help the Blues, on the ice and off
Signing Maroon will boost the Blues' revenue, in ticket sales and merchandise. You can bet thousands will be wearing a Maroon jersey next season at The Enterprise Center. There's something unique and feel-good centric about a hometown kid coming home to play for the team he grew up watching. The place where his family lives. Maroon will be active in the community and boost the St. Louis economy and help the Blues make money as well as helping them win games on the ice. You can't put a metric on that, but it's a real thing.
Look, Maroon took less money to come home. His agent probably had at least two offers of $2.5-3 million sitting on the desk, but Pat said no thanks. He wants to do something extraordinary: bring a Stanley Cup to St. Louis and be the hometown hero. Forget the nerves of playing for your city. Something tells me the 6 foot 3 inch 225 pound Maroon can handle the pressure of skating around in blue and gold 82 times a year.
Armstrong has done everything possible to make this Blues team a Stanley Cup contender in one offseason. O'Reilly, David Perron, Tyler Bozak, Chad Johnson, and now Maroon. It will come down to Yeo utilizing the talent and Jake Allen coming up big in net. The Blues were set before the Big Rig came home, but now I believe they are over the top.
With the St. Louis Cardinals spiraling downward, October can't get here soon enough. It will be painted in blue instead of red.
